One Bite at a Time

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Yes, The Beloved
Spouse and I physically departed Castle Schadenfreude to see a movie. Not just
any movie, Mad Max: Fury Road. We
left with mixed emotions, though an estimate of our overall impression is made
clear by our agreement that she will pick our next movie adventure.

(Editor’s Note:
Spoilers abound.)

One problem with
the film was the chase scenes, which is a serious matter when talking about a
movie that isn’t much more than a series of chases. (I referred to it as
“action porn,” with just enough story to serve as a combination bridge and
excuse for the next chase.) The chases are substantial cinematic
achievements—especially when taking into account less than 20% of the action
was CGI-enhanced—but a couple went on past the point of sustaining excitement
into the land of “It looks they had one more stunt they wanted to try.” True
porn would also not have confused the money shot. Things are so hectic—and the
editing so frantic—when Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) kills Immortan Joe
(Hugh Keays-Byrne) the viewer can’t tell how she got to him, how she killed
him, how she got back, nor how they retrieved his body. Too much depends on
adrenaline overdoses getting viewers to overlook oversights, or, as my father
would say of an imperfection in cutting the grass, “No one’s going to notice
driving by at sixty miles an hour.”

The ending is also
weak. When Max (Tom Hardy) and Furiosa return victorious, displaying Immortan
Joe’s body to the masses, the entire power structure rolls over, and life will
now be different. We’re expected to believe people whose power and enhanced
living conditions depended on the status quo are now just going to bow down and
accept what’s coming to them. It’s too naïve an ending for such a borderline
nihilistic movie.

There are plusses
to balance the ledger. Director George Miller and his co-writers (Brendan
McCarthy and Nico Lathouris) don’t insult the audience’s intelligence. You’re
left alone to figure out the backstory and key plot motivators without much
explanation. Everything you need is there, but you have to pay attention. A lot
of films that claim to be more intellectually-motivated would do well to follow
this example.

The chemistry
between Max and Furiosa—wait, I should have said “Furiosa and Max:” it’s really
her movie—is spot on. Theron and Hardy are perfectly cast, and pace the
evolution of their characters’ relationship from mistrust / having to trust /
trusting / willing to die for effortlessly. The depth of their bonding is
brought home, not with over the top dialog or a sexually-charged (and
inappropriate) scene, but by how they exchange eye contact at the end. Again,
more done with less said.

The real
plus-plus—and the primary reason I went to see it—is that Fury Road makes men’s rights

activists’ heads explode. Sigourney
Weaver’s Ripley is the girl next door compared to Theron’s Furiosa. Hair cut
almost to the scalp, missing half a forearm, bound up and dressed for desert
battle, she sets the new standard for badass, regardless of gender. And she’s
Charlize Theron, for Crissakes. She’s hot. She can’t help it. Furiosa could be
a litmus test for MRAs. Real men respected her strength, and were still aroused
at some level. MRAs were terrified, their tiny little dicks crawling even
farther back inside than usual.

And it’s not just
her. All the women kick ass. The escaping wives look soft and cuddly and
sex-objecty, but all do whatever needs to be done. The tribe of women they
encounter before starting back have had everything taken away and survive by
working together, while the male-dominated society back in the Citadel holds power
by controlling all the water and food and parceling it out however best suits
their needs to remain in power. (Talk about your one percent.)

On balance,
two-and-a-half stars out of five, but I’m glad I went. I’ve done quite a bit of
research into the men’s rights movement for the work-in-progress, and there is
not a more detestable bunch of self-serving, weak, cowardly, bullying, dickless
pieces of shit to be found drawing breath. (And yes, honey badgers, I’m talking
about you, too.) Anything that riles them up and gets them to voice their
opinions outside the manosphere where they can be exposed is a good thing. I
don’t know if this was the intent of Fury
Road—I’m inclined to think it was an unintended consequence of the film’s
equal treatment of the sexes—but it was worth leaving the house for just for
that.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Charlie
Stella, The Godfather of Mob Fiction, has taken on a new challenge:
non-fiction. Charlie has helped James Guiliani write his memoir, Dogfella,
the story of how an abandoned dog changed Guiliani’s life from Mob enforcer to
animal rights advocate and obsessive protector of dogs. Yes, I know. That’s a
story too syrupy even for Disney to tell, but it’s true. How can this be? I’ll
let Charlie tell you, in his own inimitable words. (Double thanks to Charlie
for taking time away from his beloved Tampa Bay Lightning to sit for this
interview. GO BOLTS!!)

One Bite at a Time: Dogfella
is a departure for you. Not only is it non-fiction, it’s told from the main
character’s point of view as a memoir. Before we get into more about that, give
us a brief overview of what the book covers.

Charlie Stella: James “Head” Guiliani’s wild and
crazy life; from his earliest memories to the present day. I thought I lived a
few lives … James has me beat by a country mile.

OBAAT: How did you hook up with James?
(And, since someone is sure to ask, is he any relation to Rudy, though I’ll
understand if James is reluctant to acknowledge any blood ties.)

CS: The project came as a surprise through the SNHU MFA
program I graduated from. Apparently, my agent for the book, Jeff Kleinman (Folio
Literary Management) was also connected to the program through Diane Les
Becquets (the director of the program at the time). He was at our senior
readings and he heard my ability to curse every other word on a page … and he
had an in-house project through their London office (the agent representing
James) … I was contacted by him a few weeks later. He asked me to submit a few
writing samples and James liked the cut of my jib (as expressed in street
dialogue). We speak the same language, James and I. The Rudy thing … Big
smile. That’s actually covered at one
point in the memoir … but, NO, no connection to the psychotic lunatic who loved
his country so much, he ducked serving in Vietnam at every single opportunity so
he could become the mayor made famous by hiring a future convict as his police
commissioner. Fuck Rudy Giuliani. Take notice of the spelling. The good
Guiliani, James, he rescues animals 24/7. Rudy, who I once supported back in my
angst with the Democratic Party, has proved himself an irrelevant windbag. And
James’s brothers, all of them, served in the military (Army and Marines), so
fuck Rudy Guiliani again. (Editor’s Note: Such an elementary error would
normally result in the sacking of the interviewer. However, since said
interviewer is also the editor and publisher of this blog, we will settle for a
harsh reprimand.)

OBAAT: How long did you work with James on
the book?

CS: Wow. In the end it took us more than a year but not
because we weren’t working. There was the publishing buyout, then the
non-buyout, etc. We’d start and have to stop and then start again … in actual
time, probably six months, although it took me a bit longer to polish it. I’d
go to James’s store, The Diamond Collar, with a bag of bagels or box of donuts
and we’d work a few hours at a time. I went to his house and interviewed his
lady, Lena … they really do have a ton of animals there they’ve recued. It’s no
bullshit about how much those two do for animals.

OBAAT: In what ways is James like, and
unlike, you?

CS: The physical traits are obvious. We’re both tall, thin
and handsome MF’ers … okay, scratch that. We both played in similar puddles,
although his were a lot more high profile. James was with the Gotti Jr. crew
out of the now infamous Our Friends Social Club in Queens (literally around the
corner from the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club, John Gotti Sr.’s hangout), although
one was business and the other used more for entertainment. We both can read
people pretty quick (that’s a street thing you kind of learn subconsciously, I
think). We both still have street chips on our shoulders, but mine has been
somewhat calmed over time. James still has his, but he’s eleven years younger
than me. Time may wear him down some. His dedication to animals is very real. I
love my dog, don’t get me wrong, but I could never do what James has dedicated
his life to do. It’s no bullshit about the time and effort (and money) involved
in animal rescue. James does it 24/7 … no breaks ever. As far as different,
we’re pretty much politically polar opposites (which proves people with
different views of the world can co-exist, right?). James is a very religious
guy. I’m a devout atheist. Of course we’re both fashionistas, but I have to
admit his outfits probably look better than mine. (Unless I’m wearing my Bolts
stuff … then, forgetaboutit, I’m a fuckin’ stud.)

OBAAT: Everyone would have dismissed this
as a fictional story idea: mobster rescues abandoned, dying dog and changes his
life. You’ve come to know James pretty well. What happened there?

CS: I’d call bullshit on a story about a gangster finding an
abused abandoned dog and how it leads to animal rescue too, except I’ve seen
James tear up at the mention of Bruno (the dog he and his lady found). There’s
also a lot more to the story, including his addictions to alcohol and drugs, a
two-year bid in an infamous Long Island prison (Riverhead) and just how much
his lady, Lena, meant to his life. I know first-hand what a woman can do for a
man. I was engaged in a pretty shitty life myself until I met Ann Marie. That
redemption stuff really does happen.

OBAAT: How did Dogfella come to be published?

CS: I think James had a ton of exposure with the reality
show that was featured on the Oprah channel. He’s become a genuine celebrity in
New York and it made sense for a smart agent/agency to jump on the opportunity
for a book deal. James was getting press long before the Oprah show. He’d been
featured in New York newspapers a few times as well, including a great headline
of James’ dog, Primo (a 140 pound Cane Corso), and former Governor Spitzer,
with a headline that read: Which Dog has
Fleas? You gotta love it. James also helped retrieve bodies from the towers
after they were attacked. He was working construction close to Ground Zero and
he spent a night helping the steel workers retrieve corpses.

OBAAT: Americans whose knowledge of organized
crime is only as detailed as watching the Godfather films and The Sopranos may wonder how it was James
was able to walk away and start a new life. Was he a made guy? In today’s
mafia, would that have made a difference?

CS: James was what is considered a mob enforcer, someone you
send to do the dirty work. (Not to be confused with a hit man—he wasn’t that.)
He was also involved with his street gang, 112 (in Richmond Hill). The funny
thing is, for a brief period after my first divorce, I lived not too far from
where James was hanging out in Gotti Jr.’s joint. I lived in Richmond Hill with
a bunch of other window cleaners (what I was doing while learning the street
ropes after my first divorce). Enforcers can walk away or be excommunicated, so
to speak, for any number of things. In James case, he tried to pull a
potentially profitable job without letting the people he was around know about
it. He was pinched and went away for two years, which probably kept him from
catching a beating. Associates are earners, both legitimate and illegal, so
walking away usually has to do with finances and whether or not you’re looking
to pull money away from those you’re around. For James, it was both that
hijacking job that he kept to himself and his inability to stay away from
drugs. Going away was probably a blessing in disguise, because by the time he
came out, the Gotti crew had suffered Senior’s demise and they had bigger
problems to concern themselves with. For me it was much easier to walk. I left
my loansharking and bookmaking behind. I went from having a very healthy cash
income to being a working stiff (although I’d always been a working stiff,
taking breaks from time to time to try and be a writer). It was probably a
smart play on my part to always keep up with the computer world and having a
work resume. Some of it was pure bullshit (my resume), don’t get me wrong, but
not the jobs, just the gaps in years when I was working exclusively on the
street. Now, here’s another amazing thing that connects James and myself … Dr.
Salvatore Pernice … he also played (and continues to play) a big role in James’s
animal rescue, but long before I met James, Dr. Pernice saved Rigoletto (our
dog) … what are the odds?

OBAAT: Has there been any interest from the movies? I
know I just made fun of it as a fiction idea, but as a true story it’s
fascinating.

CS: I sure hope so. I think James has been contacted a few
times now. Although Oprah canceled the show after putting it on an impossible
to survive spot, the show now airs via Animal Planet in several countries (for
which James doesn’t get a dime—go figure).

OBAAT: Now that you mention it, what was the
deal with the TV show? Oprah Winfrey Network had it on for about twenty minutes
before cancelling. (I’m no TV executive, but I have to believe “finding an
audience” takes more than two or three episodes. It’s not like production costs
were going to break Oprah.) What happened there?

CS:See above. They put it on a Friday night
at 10:00 p.m. on a station that caters to a specific audience. Most of those
who watched it, seemed to like it fine, but numbers rule the roost and without
the push, there’s no way to survive. I don’t know how it wasn’t picked up, but
it still may be. Time will tell.

OBAAT: You’re well-established as the
Godfather of crime fiction. A couple of years ago, you attended the MFA program
at Southern New Hampshire University. How did that affect your outlook on both
reading and writing?

Listen to me...

CS: I think you’re
the only guy who says that, but it is very kind. Initially, I wanted to have a backup plan
(teaching) for when capitalism (as we know it today) finished outsourcing the
industry I work in. I went with that game plan in mind. I quickly changed my
mind and would probably work at McDonalds before trying to teach. I’d love to
do so, make no mistake, but the bullshit teachers have to put up with (bureaucracy,
etc.) is a non-starter for me. What I gained from that program was (for me and
to me) invaluable. The reading lists alone have opened up my mind (at least) to
some wonderful reading/finding new authors (and older authors that are new to
me because of the lack of reading I’d done for so long). And the people … I met
some wonderful people in the program (fellow students/writers and mentors) and
I have strong ties to that community now. Of course, the Dogfella project was an extra nice surprise, since it pays for the
degree, but that wasn’t to be expected on any level. I see lots of bad mouthing
about MFA programs in general, and what I say is this: It’s what you make of it
that matters. If you’re getting an MFA degree to become rich and famous, you’re
a putz. If you’re getting the degree to grow, you’re on the right track. I’d do
it again if I had the time. Yeah, college has become a business, and numbers
again skew the product, but let’s face it, if you’re serious about writing,
you’re going to do what you have to do anyway. My wife and I discuss the
college problem today a lot; how it has become a means to a financial end, a
job. Far too few people attend for the sake of growing, what we think it’s all
about (which is why it should be FUCKING FREE). I found the MFA program valuable
because my background was focused on politics while I was in college and then
making money on the streets. I didn’t read the kinds of books I read now. The
program introduced me to an entire new library of great writing … and the juice
to write you walk away with (after each residency) is invaluable. I wrote tons
more than usual (whether I used it or not) after each residency.

OBAAT: What made you decide to be an author?

CS: Teachers … going back to high school, although I actually
finished as a co-runner-up in a Catholic school contest when I was younger (and
nobody believed I wrote the damn thing, probably because I was one of the dumbskis).
Later on an English teacher in high school, Mrs. Miller, assigned Camus’ The Stranger and that knocked me for a
loop. Who does that, starts a book with: Mother
died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. It got me thinking,
which is what we’re supposed to do, right? I started writing stuff about my
whack job family and what we were going through at the time (including my short
stint in a nuthouse) and found I enjoyed writing. Then I put everything aside
to play and prepare for football. Fortunately, a football scholarship took me
out of state (away from distractions) and I took another English course in
college and met Dave Gresham (and took more classes from him). He gave me the
confidence to pursue writing. I had ZERO encouragement other than Dave and my
Mom (but my mother would’ve been happiest had I taken safe civil service job).
Dave stuck with me through most of my very immature adulthood. He’d read my
feeble attempts to write novels but would always encourage me to keep trying.
Eventually, I got lucky, but without those teachers, forgetaboutit … I’d be in
jail or dead today. All glory to
teachers, always.

OBAAT: How do you think your life
experiences have prepared you for writing crime fiction?

CS: My MFA thesis was actually a fictional memoir of my
incredibly dysfunctional family and life experiences. I won’t even attempt to
have it published for fear that the two remaining kids who continue to speak to
me won’t if it’s published. I think I sent some of it to Patti Abbott and she
was also very encouraging for me to keep working it. I did and I have a few
drafts, but I won’t do anything with it. I did a lot of the dopey jobs I wrote
about in my early novels. I experienced a lot of what at least a few of my
characters lived through, did, etc. My family, from very early on (when I was a
kid), did some shady shit to survive, and then my old man took off and the
financial bottom dropped out … and our family life/world changed forever. As it
should, life has provided enough material for a library. Now, to get it all
down, right?

OBAAT: What do you like best about being a
writer?

CS: Pretty much everything.The research, the creation of characters and situations that leave
me wondering what if. I can get lost in this stuff, not come up for air for
hours at a time. I can’t imagine my life without it and I suspect my wife is
very accurate when she says it saved me. I know that one of my favorite parts
of the MFA program was the research paper I did on Richard Yates use of third
person omniscient … well, look at the title: Richard Yates’s Third Person Omniscient: Atmosphere, Characterization
and Judging from on High. How cool
(and exciting) is that? J

OBAAT: Who are your greatest influences?
(Not necessarily writers. Filmmakers, other artists, whoever you think has had
a major impact on your writing.)

CS: Everything and anything. Plays are what I started
writing when I finally got serious after a few failed novel attempts, so David
Mamet, for sure. Sam Shepherd also. Eugene O’Neill. Good movies can do it. A
good song can do it (Tom Waits). An overheard conversation or an imaginary one.
George V. Higgins remains my very favorite crime writer (even if it makes him
turn in his grave to be called a crime writer) … but I’d have to add David
Lynch (Blue Velvet remains my
favorite movie of all time) … Gustav Mahler’s personal story with his wife,
Alma, plays such a HUGE role in a novel I’ve been writing for several years now.
So, I reiterate: everything and anything.

OBAAT: As a writer, what’s your favorite
time management tip?

CS: I spend a lot of time at my computer (home and at work).
I’m either working on something of mine or writing for my blog or researching.
Sometimes I’ll write for six hours with little breaks. Sometimes I’ll write for
twenty minutes while watching a Netflix movie or series, constantly taking
breaks to return to writing. The next day I look over the mess I made the night
before and can focus again. At some point it takes the real work (editing), but
I really can’t say I don’t like any part of writing. I suspect individuals have
to figure out how to manage their time. I’m fortunate because my wife is a
gallivanter (what I call her) … she leaves me alone for long periods of time
while she does her things (gardening, shopping, general gallivanting. She just
left her nursing job (she’d been working two jobs for a few years now) so now
we both have four-day work weeks (the money I earn from writing, I can’t
consider work—I can’t because it’s more a pleasure than work). We both have a four-day
week, but different work days off. Monday is my most productive day because I’m
alone all day. I still get up very early when there aren’t many distractions. I
don’t do any of my political rants at 4:30 in the morning, not unless something
catches my eye while I’m having coffee. Getting up early always works well for
my production, but I write between hockey periods, sometimes during
commercials, etc. Bottom line: you make
the time.

OBAAT: If you could give a novice writer a
single piece of advice, what would it be?

CS: Read, read, read … and avoid the naysayers. I read at
least two hours every day (or I try very hard to do so). I read when I take my
two walks at work (before and during lunch). I read on the treadmill, between
weightlifting sets, when I’m stuck in traffic, walking across the parking lot
and riding the elevator when I visit Momma Stella, on the throne and when I go
to bed. Reading is essential. The writing too, that goes without saying, but
I’m not so sure one can be done without the other (for most people). As for naysayers,
ignore and avoid them like the plague. My life changed dramatically for me when
I shut out a few people who made me miserable.

OBAAT: Generally speaking the components of
a novel are story/plot, character, setting, narrative, and tone. How would you
rank these in order of their importance in your own writing, and can you add a
few sentences to tell us more about how you approach each and why you rank them
as you do?

CS: For me it’s always character first, then situation (I
guess that’s a combination of setting and plot), but plot comes last (when I
rewrite) because I generally don’t know the plot until I’m well into a novel.
Most of my novels and stories begin with a single line of dialogue, but of
course I have a setting in mind when that happens. I’ll write that scene or
just part of it. If it’s the right spark, a few months later I’ll have a novel.
Tonight at dinner my wife told me about a first-year associate lawyer at her
firm who found an error in a document someone did and told his secretary “whoever
did this should lose their job.” My wife was irate and she said, “You’re the
first person I thought of when I heard that, what you always say about people
like that. They can use a little fucking terror in their spoiled lives.” “A
shove down the subway stairs,” I said. “Yes,” she said. She’s a lot tougher
than you might think, my wife. Guess how that story will begin? Why character
is so important (for me) has to do with the actions that flow from that
character; essentially how the novel will develop because of those actions.
It’s why I can’t outline. The characters take me wherever they’re headed.

OBAAT: If you could have written any book
of the past hundred years, what would it be, and what is it about that book you
admire most?

CS:Revolutionary Road.
It’s akin to verismo opera for me.
It’s the real world (at least how Yates saw it when he wrote it, but I think it
still applies). With all the talk today of “American exceptionalism” (how I
hate that fucking phrase), Revolutionary
Road is a reality check. As if people born here have some special genetic
code to make them exceptional. As if the rest of the world is just waiting, watching,
and envying all our greatness. Revolutionary
Road bangs that nail with a jack hammer. Most of the players on the world
stage around the globe, for whatever reason, live pretty ordinary lives (Yates
used the term, “mediocre”), but we often have to have very high expectations
for ourselves. Most often, I think, we can’t adjust to life without celebrity
or greatness (or those fifteen minutes, etc.). Some never get to experience happiness,
not for long stretches anyway. I was a victim of it for a while, but not when
you might think. That was back in my street days. I liked playing a role where
I was kidding myself. I liked being able to do things for people I liked and to
people I didn’t like. It was a fugazi delusion of power (and total bullshit). Writing
allowed me to escape that and Ann Marie allowed me to give writing one last
shot. I’m a much happier person these days. I’m fine earning a living as a word
processor and writing for extra coin. The bigger money from the street nearly
ruined me. I only wish I’d read Revolutionary
Road thirty years ago, but I probably wouldn’t have understand 90% of it.
There are some wonderful lessons in that novel.
A second choice would be The
Grapes of Wrath, but that’s the socialist in me.

OBAAT: Favorite activity when you’re not
reading or writing.

CS: Wow … not sure anymore. For a time it was drumming. I’m
back into lifting weights again, but that train has left the yard (as far as
besting myself) … getting back into a semblance of decent shape has become a
priority (albeit with bumps in the road) … reading, I guess. I truly love to
read.

OBAAT: What are you working on now?

CS: A few things. A novel featuring Strat-O-Matic about a
few lawyers in a money league … the story that already started at the dinner
table … a few plays that have been started but not finished … two other literary
attempts that I return to from time to time … I’m sure there will be more by
the end of the weekend. That’s the beauty of this shit we do … there’s always
another thought that leads to a spark, and like The Boss says, “You can’t start a fire without a spark.”

Thursday, May 21, 2015

In my first (and so far only) traditionally-published novel,
Grind
Joint, Chicago PI Nick Forte visits his home town of Penns River, PA.
While there he beats unconscious a man who annoyed him, saves his cousin the
cop from being kidnapped by Russian mobsters, almost provokes a brawl in a
restaurant, and kills a couple of guys. (Hey, he was only there for a week.)
Forte doesn’t have a death wish; he does have serious case of Don’t Give a
Shit.

Readers liked the character—he’s only a guest star in the
book, which is part of the Penns River series—which got me to take John
McFetridge’s advice and bring out the Nick Forte novels I’d written over
the past several years, to show how he came to be that way. (Forte, not
McFetridge. John was born smart. I should listen to him more often.) Nick’s a
small town boy who failed as a musician and got a real job teaching in the
Chicago public schools. He got tired of being the only unarmed person in the
building and the cops were hiring. A good cop, the musician in him didn’t take
to the regimentation, so he went out on his own.

In the first Forte novel, A
Small Sacrifice—which I may have mentioned once or twice was nominated
for a Shamus Award last year—Forte grapples with the violence he faces, and
frankly, doesn’t come off well. Left to his own devices, Forte would have
allowed A Small Sacrifice to tie the
record for shortest series in history. (One book, in which the hero dies.) In the
second Forte tale—The
Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of—he handles himself a little better, but
his reluctance to be more proactive continues to haunt him.

On (or about) June 11, the third Forte novel will drop.
(Available at all finer Amazon and CreateSpace outlets near you.) The Man in the Window is a story that orbits
Forte’s past as a musician, and his best friend from that life. The principal
violist of the Chicago Symphony asks Forte to find out if his wife is cheating
on him, but the violist is killed before the report clearing her can be
delivered, an apparently innocent victim of a drive-by. The next day Forte is
asked to investigate further by a close friend of the dead violist. This leads him
to finding people in places they don’t belong, with dubious reasons to be there.
When his old trumpet-playing buddy becomes dragged into the worsening
situation, Forte finds himself untethered from his natural instincts, and
discovers other, less natural inclinations that he’s better at than expected,
and comfortable.

I didn’t plan for this character arc. I meant for Forte to
be an everyman with some skills who finds himself in situations where he’d have
just enough guile and guts to get by. As the series went on, I understood at
some subconscious level there was no way for him to experience all he’d been
through and not be changed somehow. He could be repulsed by the violence, but
continuing a series down that road didn’t appeal to me, in part because that’s
not how I thought Forte would respond. Quite the opposite, Forte finds himself
drawn in by how violence can accomplish good ends, at least in his eyes. As
time goes on, he is not only less willing to walk away, he’s happy to be the
initiator.

There are at least two more Forte books on the way. Volume
Four, A Dangerous Lesson, will come
out in late 2015. That concludes Forte’s development prior to the fateful visit
home in Grind Joint. The current
work-in-progress (working title Bad
Samaritan) shows his continued evolution. Or descent, depending on your
point of view. What happens to him after that, I really don’t know.

James Ellroy, talking about the two early giants of the PI
genre, said Chandler wrote about the kind of man he wanted to be; Hammett wrote
about the kind of man he was afraid he was. That’s a little how I feel about my
two primary protagonists. Penns River cop Ben Dougherty is the kind of man I’d
like to think I am. Nick Forte is the kind of man I’m afraid I could be, under
different circumstances and stimuli. I’m sure I’ll keep him around, one way or
another.

Monday, May 18, 2015

I first became aware of Eric Beetner when, preparing for a
Bouchercon panel, I read his novel, The
Devil Doesn't Want Me and couldn’t help but visualize what a great movie it
would make. Then only issue I have with Mr. Beetner’s writing is what a hard
time I have keeping up with him. In addition to The Devil Doesn't Want Me and his newest, Rumrunners, he has also written Dig
Two Graves, The Year I Died Seven
Times, White Hot Pistol, Stripper
Pole At the End Of The World; the story collection A Bouquet Of Bullets; co-authored (with JB Kohl) the novels One Too Many Blows To The Head and Borrowed Trouble; and has written the
novellas FIGHTCARD: Split Decision
and FIGHTCARD: A Mouth Full Of Blood
under the name Jack Tunney. This is all since last Wednesday. The man’s a
machine.

Eric lives in Los Angeles where he co-hosts the Noir at the Bar
reading series.

One Bite at a Time: Tell us about Rumrunners.

Eric Beetner: It's a story about a
family who has been doing driving for a criminal enterprise for generations,
dating back to prohibition when they were genuinely running rum in the back of
model Ts. Now, though, the youngest McGraw, Tucker, doesn't want any part of
the family business. Until his dad goes missing during a run. Now Tucker must
team up with his grandfather to find the missing McGraw. Things get ugly
from there, as usually happens in my books.

OBAAT: Where did you get this
idea, and what made it worth developing for you? (Notice I didn’t ask “Where do
you get your ideas?” I was careful to ask where you got this idea.)

EB: I liked the idea of a
guy who has turned his back on the life of crime his father and grandfather
have led, only to be sucked into it against his will. From there, I guess I
liked the idea of drivers. Getaway drivers, liquor runners, anyone specializing
in that part of a criminal operation was interesting to me. It grew out of
that. My favorite kinds of stories are ordinary guys thrust into circumstances
that are beyond them, and watching them work their way out, often awkwardly and
with terrible consequences.

OBAAT: How long did it take to
write Rumrunners, start to finish?

EB: I write fairly quickly,
after long periods of thinking about a story and hammering out an outline. I'd
say four months from when I knew I was ready to go. I write at night after my
day job and after the kids are in bed. If I could do this full time, I'd knock
out four or five novels a year easily, I think.

OBAAT: Rumrunners takes in three generations of “protagonists:” Calvin
(the old man), Webb (his son), and Tucker (Webb’s son). In what ways are they
like, and unlike each other? For that matter, in what ways are they like, or
unlike you?

EB: They're all unlike me
except that they are from Iowa. But even with that, I haven't lived there in 35
years. Calvin and Webb are cut from the same cloth, and Tucker is, too, but he
doesn't want to admit it. There are many instances in the book where you see
his skills as a driver and as a criminal that have been dormant inside him for
years. In a way this is Tucker's coming of age story, even though he's already
in his thirties.

OBAAT: In what time and place
is Rumrunners set? How important is the setting to the book as a whole?

EB: The time is now the
place is Iowa. I wanted a setting that was off the beaten path. It was more
interesting to me to have these families – the McGraws and the Stanleys, who
they drive for – be big fish in a very small pond. To set this story in New
York or Chicago would have taken it in a very different direction. In backwoods
Iowa they can live in their own world and all the pressure on them is from that
alone, not the extras that come from living in a big city or being a part of a
huge criminal empire. These guys are small potatoes, but they take pride in what
they do and no matter how small your world is, when it comes crashing in on you
it has the same impact as anyone else.

OBAAT: How did Rumrunners come to be published?

EB: It was a long road.
This book is over four years old. When I originally had sent it to my agent we
were shopping another book which eventually got picked up by a division of a
Dutton/Penguin. (That book, The Devil Doesn't Want Me has been my most popular book to date) so Rumrunners kind of took a back
seat. Then I kept writing more and more novels and I'd get excited about
whatever was shiniest and new.

I always liked the book a lot and had plans for a trilogy with
these characters, but it was always kind of the forgotten child of my books.
When 280 Steps came calling and asking if had anything they could look at, I
pulled this one out of the pile and sent it to them. Thankfully they saw the
potential and it was saved from obscurity.

OBAAT: What kinds of stories
do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors, in or out of that area?

EB: I read almost
exclusively crime novels. Some nonfiction, the occasional sci-fi. I love old-school
pulp and noir novels about ordinary sad suckers trapped in a web of their own
making. I like pulp writers like Harry Whittington, Cornell Woolrich, Day
Keene, William Ard.

Some of the most consistent writers I read today who have yet to
fail me with their brilliant work are people like Urban Waite, Roger Smith,
Jake Hinkson, Sean Doolittle, Joe R Lansdale, Grant Jerkins, Allan
Guthrie, John Rector, Max Allan Collins.

OBAAT: What made you decide to
be an author?

EB: I've been writing since
high school. I started in screenplays for a long time before ever attempting a
novel. I loved that in writing a script you could play all the roles in your
head. You were director, actor, set designer, editor. It was the only time you
ever had complete control over a script.

When I started writing novels and short stories I enjoyed that
same aspect. While you were in the act of writing you weren't beholden to
anyone else but yourself and the story. You could move all the pieces on the
chessboard without any repercussions. Once it's out and with a publisher or out
to readers, you face expectations, personal opinions, skewed perspectives. But
when you're writing you control that world fully. And I guess deep down I'm a
storyteller, even if my main audience is myself. If I can entertain me, then I
figure I have decent shot of doing it for other people.

OBAAT: How do you think your
life experiences have prepared you for writing crime fiction?

Eric Beetner is, in life, a pleasant and notunattractive young man, yet all his photosmake it appear they are remaking In Cold Bloodand he got a sweet part.

EB: I make stuff up. As a
writer, and as a reader, I want to be taken out of my life and shown different
people doing different things. I would be a terrible criminal, I'm sure. I've
never done drugs, never carried a gun around, never committed a crime worth
mentioning. I'm a straight-laced guy and a good citizen. So that's prepared me
for wanting to delve into the total opposite of my real world, so if people
sometimes think I get dark with my fiction, it's only because my real life is
so bright.

OBAAT: What do you like best
about being a writer?

EB: Aside from what I said
above about creating and controlling your made-up world, I'd say it's creating
a story and characters out of thin air. I used to play music in bands and
I always loved that there would silence, nothing, and then suddenly here was a
song. Out if nothing! It's the same way with a book. There are blank pages, and
then after a while there are people and situations that never would have
existed had I not written them down. That's kinda cool, I think.

OBAAT: Who are your greatest
influences? (Not necessarily writers. Filmmakers, other artists, whoever you
think has had a major impact on your writing.)

EB: My early life was
far more influenced by films than books. I read as a kid, but I didn’t have the
same passion for what I was reading as I do now. Mostly it was that thing where
the required reading in school wasn’t speaking to me and so I didn’t get out a
search for what I really loved in books because I found it in movies.

And even there I liked it pulpy. I love Blade Runner, John Carpenter films, I loved horror movies growing
up. I also was very eclectic in my film tastes. By the time I graduated high
school I had seen everything from Italian gore-fest horror films to Marx
Borthers comedies to Bergman films. I frequented the art house cinema in the
town next to mine and went to subtitled films alone all the time. I worked in a
video store (remember those?) so I saw anything and everything I could get my
hands on. I sampled it all and I loved across genres. Blues Brothers is as good as Citizen
Kane to me. Big Trouble in Little
China is as funny as Annie Hall.

OBAAT: Do you outline or fly
by the seat of you pants? Do you even wear pants when you write?

EB: I'm an outliner. They
are skeletal, but I know where I'm going. And things can change. A good outline
is flexible.

OBAAT: Give us an idea of your
process. Do you edit as you go? Throw anything into a first draft knowing the
hard work is in the revisions? Something in between?

EB: I hate rewriting. Hate
revisions. I try to get it as right as I can the first time out. I'll never let
a plot hole sit unattended in hopes of figuring it out later. I fix it then. I
don't really go back and read anything as I go. I plow ahead and only read back
once I've finished. I've seen people get hung up on reworking something
midstream and it sucks all the momentum out of it. I think momentum is a lot of
writing.

OBAAT: Do you listen to music
when you write? Do you have a theme song for this book? What music did you go
back to over and over as you wrote it, or as you write, in general?

EB: I write on silence.
Being a musician maybe, or just how deeply I relate to music means I can't use
it as background noise.

If this book had a soundtrack it'd probably be a lot of outlaw
country. The Smokey
and the Bandit soundtrack. Fast paced bluegrass. In other words, nothing I
listen to very often in real life, but stuff I like when I hear it.

OBAAT: As a writer, what’s
your favorite time management tip?

EB: I think just to focus
hard when you are working. Don't take frequent breaks. Finish a thought before
you stop for the night. When you sit down to write, don't start by checking
email and all that junk. Twitter can wait. Sit. Focus. Work.

And then please don't end by tweeting your word count. Nobody
cares. The finished product is what matters.

OBAAT: If you could give a
novice writer a single piece of advice, what would it be?

EB: Write what you would
want to read. I think that's the first step toward finding your own voice. If
you try to study what sells you will fail every time. Don't go for someone
else's style, no matter how much you admire that writer. Write your book, not
theirs.

OBAAT: Generally speaking the
components of a novel are story/plot, character, setting, narrative, and tone.
How would you rank these in order of their importance in your own writing, and
can you add a few sentences to tell us more about how you approach each and why
you rank them as you do?

EB: Story and character
are so inextricably linked that it’s hard to put one above the other. They’re
co-dependent. You can have a book with interesting characters but if the plot
doesn’t go anywhere they are wasted lives. Conversely, you can have a runaway
train of a plot but if you fill it with cliches and empty characters, the
reader won’t be thrilled because they won’t relate to it on a human level,
which is why we read.

Setting might be last on my list. I write a lot of anonymous
places. Cities that aren’t named, stuff like that. It can help add to the
universal relatability of a story. I’ve read some great books that I felt were
bogged down by a little too much site-specific detail. If a reader isn’t
already intimately familiar with your locale, it might not matter if you get
every street corner exactly right. Those are details sometimes best left out.

Tone is important, but I think it often comes subconsciously for
a writer. If you write from the gut, the tone will follow.

OBAAT: If you could have
written any book of the past hundred years, what would it be, and what is it
ab

out that book you admire most?

EB: What a great and
difficult question. I’ll say Wild at
Heart. I’m a huge Barry Gifford fan and this is ground zero for most people
on his work and the start of his most famous creation, the Sailor and Lula
books.

I’m fascinated by people in the margins. The outcasts and the
ones living in shadows. That’s who Gifford writes about. He has such a distinct
voice and he breaks a ton of rules. All those asides and tangents! But I love
it.

I wrote a script once that almost got made that, looking back on
it now, has a very Barry Gifford style, although this was before I’d read
anything of his. It was all short vignettes and weird, unconnected scenes. We
did a staged reading of it and some great actors read including Joe Mantegna,
Charles Durning, David Alan Grier, Dan Lauria. A studio guy came up to me after
and said, “Great stuff. I loved it. Funny and wild. Y’know, it’s not a movie, but I loved it.”

I feel that when I read Gifford. I’m sure some people think,
“But it’s not a novel.”

So, yeah, I wish I’d written Wild
at Heart.

OBAAT: Favorite activity when
you’re not reading or writing.

EB: I work in the TV/Film
industry so I can claim watching TV and movies as research. I’ve been known to
paint – badly. I still play music – not often enough. I love being with my
kids and my wife. I’m pretty easy to entertain since if I’m ever at a loss I
tend to create my own entertainment. I’m never bored. I won’t let myself be.

OBAAT: What are you working on
now?

EB: This is a very busy
year for me. I have a number of books coming out over 2015, but those are
already written. Over
Their Heads is a crime novel I wrote with JB Kohl. The Backlist is an old school mafia
hit man/woman novel I wrote with Frank Zafiro. I have a novella I wrote that
will come out near the end of the year called Nine Toes in the Grave. And I just released the
full omnibus version of my serialized novel The Year I Died 7 Times.

I’m working now on some short stories I have due for anthologies
I’ll be in. Always working a new novel, though at this point I’m trying to pick
which of the outlines I have that I want to start.

And if all goes well and there is a decent response to
Rumrunners, I would love to complete the trilogy I always wanted it to be. So,
fingers crossed people want to read more about the McGraws.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

OBAAT is
lucky to have sit for Twenty Questions another of the burgeoning number of
writers who are making 280 Steps a publisher rapidly earning its cred. Josh K.
Stevens’s new book, Scratch the Surface,
is a “fun pulp joyride,” according to no less a source than Victory Gischler. (Gun Monkeys, The Deputy.) Josh’s short
stories have been published in RAGAD, Boston Literary Magazine, The Woodstock
Independent, 55 Words and decomP. His first novel, Bullets Are My Business, was released in 2012. Josh lives in the
Midwest with his wife and children.

One Bite at a Time: Tell us about Scratch the Surface.

Josh K. Stevens: Scratch
the Surface is the first book in the Deuce Walsh trilogy, arriving
back-to-back this year. Deuce Walsh is
a wiseguy who was left for dead. He’s leading his life as a regular Joe under
an assumed identity and gets pulled back in to the life when his brother-in-law
is in danger. The only way out is to finish one last job and hope that he makes
it out alive.

OBAAT: Where did you get this idea, and
what made it worth developing for you? (Notice I didn’t ask “Where do you get
your ideas?” I was careful to ask where you got this idea.)

JKS: The main
character, Deuce Walsh, had been lurking around in my head for years and, one
day, when I was working overnights doing security, I started thinking (and I
had a lot of time to sit and think) that my wife never questioned whether or
not I was actually going to work. She just assumed that I was always where I
said I was going. It was one of those random thoughts that should’ve just come
and gone but this one didn’t. It took root and then started to sprout and grow.
I started to realize that, as long as I
left the house at the time I normally did and came home at the normal time, no
one would know if I called in sick once or twice and got up to no good. As long
as I didn’t get fired, it would just be assumed that I was going to work, going
through the motions. This got me thinking about the fact that, if you came up
with a good enough back story, no one would ever question what you did before
the present time. It was a perfect case of dual identities. For some reason, I
found this absolutely fascinating.

OBAAT: How long did it take to write Scratch the Surface, start to finish?

JKS: From the moment that the idea hatched to completion was
a few years. Scratch the Surface
actually started out as standalone book and about halfway through, I realized
that I was telling two separate stories from Deuce’s life. Once I realized
that, the book was done in about three months.

OBAAT: Where did Deuce Walsh come from? In
what ways is he like, and unlike, you?

JKS: Surprisingly, Deuce Walsh came about completely by
accident. I was working at a bookstore and one of the employees took a phone
call. She misheard the caller’s name as Deuce Walsh and, for some reason, I
immediately thought, “There’s a story waiting to be written with that character
as the protagonist.” I latched onto it and filed it away, waiting for the right
story to present itself. When the story idea arose, I started seeing that Deuce
and I are very similar in nature. We both had some good times in our glory days
and, while we’ve both moved on to bigger and better things in adulthood, it’s
hard not to think back on those days and pine after the simplicity, the lack of
responsibility, the lack of monotony. Deuce and I have far too many
similarities to count. Our differences? I haven’t stabbed anyone in the hand. Well…
not on purpose… yet.

OBAAT: How did Scratch the Surface come to be published?

JKS: My premiere work (Bullets
are My Business) was an e-reader exclusive and I had the great fortune to
have the wonderful folks over at 280 Steps stumble across my premiere work. One
day I got an e-mail via Facebook telling me how much they enjoyed it and asking
me if I had anything else that I was working on. I was taken aback but
extremely intrigued so I wrote back and sent over some sample chapters of a few
pieces that I was working on. After some back and forth between myself and 280
Steps, we both decided that we would be a good fit for one another and the
rest, as they say, is history. The folks over at 280 Steps have been
extraordinary to work with from the get go. They were always there to offer
assistance, they were quick to respond, the editors really put the time and
effort into making sure that the work was polished fully, and the artists who
did the covers were just fantastic. I really do think that made a world of
difference. I hope that we have a long relationship!

OBAAT: What kinds of stories do you like to
read? Who are your favorite authors, in or out of that area?

JKS: I seem to always be drawn back to books that have a
post-apocalyptic setting, which is strange, but I generally like to read horror
and crime fiction. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time was Justin
Cronin’s “The Passage” and “The Twelve”. Just absolutely stunning characters,
fantastic plot, crystal clear settings. Blew me away. My favorite authors? Best
to try to narrow it down to a top five list: Stephen King, Charlie Huston,
Mickey Spillane, Charles Bukowski, and Edgar Allan Poe.

OBAAT: What made you decide to be an author?

JKS: Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve
always had stories just bouncing around in my head. I remember that when my kid
sister and I were young, we would play with our toys and we would have
elaborate plots and stories that spanned weeks at a time. As I got older, the
stories were still there, but I had nowhere to put them. I started writing them
down in high school, short stories here and there, and two “novellas” that
starred my friends at the time. I started writing just so I had an outlet for
the voices in my head. I think that I really decided that I wanted to be an
author when I was working at the bookstore. I had been an avid reader for as
far back as I could remember, but it really dawned on me that authors had such
an effect on who I was and what I had become. I really just want to be able to
push someone to follow their dreams. If my books make it to one person’s hands
who reads it and says, “This inspires me do chase my own dream,” then I’ll
consider it a success.

OBAAT: How do you think your life
experiences have prepared you for writing crime fiction?

JKS: Ha. I don’t know that my personal life
experiences have prepared me for anything. For some reason, I’ve always been
fascinated by crime and criminals. I’ve read countless books and watched far
too many movies and television shows and I’ve always rooted for the anti-hero. Something
about a flawed character has always appealed to me. Maybe that’s what’s
prepared me? The fact that I’m flawed? Or maybe I started writing so I didn’t
go out and knock over a bank.

OBAAT: What do you like best about being a
writer?

JKS: I think my favorite thing about being
a writer is hearing people’s reactions to my work. Good or bad, I like to think
that I’ve at least made people feel something. The characters that I created
are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, getting inside someone’s mind and
kicking around a little bit. I like the idea that, with my work, I can at least
alter the way they look at the world even if just for a moment.

OBAAT: Who are your greatest influences?
(Not necessarily writers. Filmmakers, other artists, whoever you think has had
a major impact on your writing.)

JKS: So many people have been an influence to me. The people
that influenced the style that I write in are Quentin Tarantino and Robert
Rodriguez, Charlie Huston, Stephen King, Denis Leary, and all of the
hard-boiled pulp novelists of the forties and fifties. However, I’m really
influenced on a daily basis by the people that I come in contact with. So much
of what is said and done throughout the course of my day is put into a vat in
my mind and left to stew all day. Every person in all of my stories is based on
someone I know. Not everyone would be thrilled by that knowledge, but that’s
what happens. As the saying goes: don’t piss off the writer or you’ll end up in
his book.

OBAAT: Do you outline or fly by the seat of
you pants? Do you even wear pants when you write?

JKS: I generally start out with an idea or a single scene
revolving around the main character. I usually write down notes throughout the
day of things that I want or need to have happen but, beyond that, I don’t
outline. I’m basically watching a film in my head and corresponding the play by
play as I see what the characters do in the situation that has been presented
to them. That’s the way I’ve always written. I may give the characters life,
but they create their own destiny. And pants… well, pants are always optional. I
generally wear them, but only because I just happen to have them on when I
first sit down.

OBAAT: Give us an idea of your process. Do
you edit as you go? Throw anything into a first draft knowing the hard work is
in the revisions? Something in between?

JKS: I start by just working to get the whole story down on
paper. While I’m writing the first draft, I keep notes of plot points or
character development that I want to add later, but I usually just put my head
down and barrel through. Once I’m done, I go back to the beginning and do the
initial edits. Then I go through and polish up.

OBAAT: Do you listen to music when you
write? Do you have a theme song for this book? What music did you go back to
over and over as you wrote it, or as you write, in general?

JKS: I always listen to music as I write. Generally,
what I listen to depends on the scene that I’m writing. If I’m in the midst of
writing a fight scene or an action scene, I’ll find a pumping song that I’ll
put on repeat until I’m done with the scene. I have a track listing for the
“soundtrack” to the book (you know… to make life easier if anyone ever wants to
make it into a movie…) For this book (and for the trilogy in general) I found
myself continually listening to Lana Del Rey’s albums. When I was writing the
final chapter of the book, I listened to her song “Ride” over and over again. It
was kind of the perfect piece for the finale of Scratch The Surface, so if I had to choose a theme song for this
book, I’d say that’s it. Either that or “Short Change Hero” by The Heavy. That
was on constant rotation as well.

OBAAT: As a writer, what’s your favorite
time management tip?

JKS: Honestly, I’m terrible with time
management. I personally do my best work when I’m in the eleventh hour of a
deadline and there is a gun to my head. There were many nights that I started
writing at 9:00 and didn’t get to sleep until 4:00. As long as you can get it
done before the deadline, I say, do whatever works.

OBAAT: If you could give a novice writer a
single piece of advice, what would it be?

JKS: The best advice that I can offer to anyone was given to
me by author Marcus Sakey and it was legitimately one of the best pieces of
advice that I’ve ever been given, “Keep your ass in the chair and your fingers
on the keys.” That’s the only way that you’re going to get anywhere as a
writer. That’s how you create and that’s how you learn. That’s where you’re
going to find the voice that works for you. Always be writing.

OBAAT: Generally speaking the components of
a novel are story/plot, character, setting, narrative, and tone. How would you
rank these in order of their importance in your own writing, and can you add a
few sentences to tell us more about how you approach each and why you rank them
as you do?

JKS: Well, that’s like asking me to choose my favorite child!
Each one is special in their own way but, to me personally, I’d have to rank
them character, story, tone, narrative, and setting. Character is most
important to me because they are the ones that drive everything else. I always
start with the characters and get to know them before I put a single word on
the paper. They’re the ones who are going to lead me through the story, they’re
going to create the tone, the voice of the piece. They’ll let me know where
they need to be at any given point in order to get done what needs to be done. When
I’m in the chair, writing, my characters show me what they need to do and I
follow their lead. Wow…That actually makes me sound like a schizophrenic…

OBAAT: If you could have written any book
of the past hundred years, what would it be, and what is it about that book you
admire most?

JKS: From a strictly greed based, financial standpoint? Any
of the seven Harry Potter books. Honestly though, I’d probably have to say “To
Kill a Mockingbird”. Harper Lee put out one book and it literally changed the
world. It’s still being discussed today, studied, and read today. That’s quite
a feat.

OBAAT: Favorite activity when you’re not
reading or writing.

JKS: I’m a movie/television junkie, so I
spend a lot of time catching up on that. Presently, I’m making my way through
“Californication” and loving every second of it. I listen to a lot of music
and, once a year I make what I call a “life mix”, creating a soundtrack to the
previous year. I love roller derby so I go to that when I can. My favorite past
time though is spending time with my kids and reliving my childhood.

OBAAT: What are you working on now?

JKS: As far as writing goes, while I’ve got several story ideas
kicking around in my head at the present time (a couple of full-on pulp novels,
a contemporary western, and a young adult book) I think that the first project
I’m going to undertake is polishing up a work that I finished about ten years
ago and has been sitting in a drawer ever since. The tentative title is “Smooth
Beans” and it’s another pulp thriller that centers around a couple of
twenty-somethings working at a chain coffee house. They receive a box of
smuggled diamonds at their location that were supposed to sent to the corporate
office. They decide that this is fate interjecting and they decide to try to
fence the diamonds. A series of events unfolds that forces them to hole up in
the coffee house and general chaos ensues. Ever since I started writing this,
many moons ago, I kept having the tagline run through my head “What if you fell
ass backwards into a life of crime?” Beyond that, I’ve been slowly working
towards opening my own bookstore and I’d like to put some focus on that so that
I can make sure that like-minded people have a place to come and discuss the
written word.

About Me

Two of my Nick Forte Private investigator novels (A SMALL SACRIFICE and THE MAN IN THE WINDOW) received nominations for Shamus Awards. I also write a series of police procedurals set in the economically depressed town of Penns River PA, published by Down & Out Books. A non-fiction essay, “Chandler’s Heroes,” appeared in Spinetingler Magazine online in October of 2013.
I live in Laurel MD with The Beloved Spouse.